Contents Foreword v Preface vii Charts xiii Maps xiii Photographs xv 1 The Doctrinal Setting 1 Evolution of Early Tactical Air Doctrine 1 Doctrine in Practice: Operation Torch 7 Tactical Air Doctrine Refined 14 2 Preparing for Joint Operations 21 The Generals Paired 23 Organizing Allied Assault Forces for Joint Operations 28 Manning and Equipping the Assault Forces 33 Training Underway 39 The Issue of Joint Training 43 Normandy: On the Job Training 49 Air-Ground Support System Refined 56 Hedge-Row Fighting to a Breakout 64 3 The Battle for France 69 Exploiting the St. L6 Breakout: Blitz Warfare U.S. Style 70 Supporting Patton's End Run to the Seine 86 From the Seine to the Meuse 96 Protecting Patton's Southern Flank 103 A Decision in Brittany 108 Final Pursuit to the Mosel River 113 The French Campaign Reviewed 118 4 Stalemate in Lorraine 123 Autumn's Changed Conditions 123 Refinements in Command and Control 128 Stalemate along the Mosel 132 Planning an Offensive 143 From Metz to the Siegfried Line 149 Mission Priorities and Aerial Resources 158 Air Power for Patton's Army Assault on the Siegfried Line 171 Lorraine in Retrospect 181 5 The Ardennes 185 Operation Autumn Fog 186 The Allied Response 190 Victory Weather 199 Support Facilities and the Aerial Relief of Bastogne 203 Protecting the Corridor, Dealing with Friendly Fire 208 The Luftwaffe Responds 215 Consolidating Support Elements and Flight Operations 220 Clearing the Bulge 225 Ardennes in Retrospect 234 6 The Final Offensive 239 Operational Challenges and New Tactics 242 Into the Siegfried Line 248 Through the Eifel to the Rhine 254 Springing the Saar-Mosel-Rhine Trap — and Across the Rhine River 260 Once More: "Blitz Warfare U.S. Style" 270 Defeat of the Luftwaffe 275 Advance to the Mulde River 281 Down the Danube Valley to Austria 283 Victory 289 7 An After Action Assessment 291 Notes 317 Sources 353 Index 371 Charts 1 . Channels of Tactical Control of Combat Aviation in Typical Air Support Command 5 2. Allied Command Relationships in the Mediterranean March 1943 13 3. Organizational Chart of the Ninth Air Force December 8, 1943 31 4. Air Support Mission Request System July 1944 57 Maps 1 . Torch Landings in Northwest Africa November 8, 1942 8 2. Ninth Air Force Installations June 1, 1944 42 3. The Normandy Battlefield 50 4. U.S. Airfields in Western Europe, 1944-1945 72 5. Northwestern France, 1944: The Breakout 78 6. Northwestern France, 1944: The Exploitation 92 7. Northwestern Europe, 1944: Pursuit to West Wall Operations, August 26-September 14, 1944 101 8. European Theater 124 9. Northwestern Europe, 1944: 6th and 12th Army Group Operations, September 15-November 7, 1944 126 10. German Counterattacks Against XII Corps: September 19-30, 1944 134 11. XX Corps Operations: October 1944 136 12. XII Corps Attack: November 8, 1944 154 13. Location and Movements of Major XIX TAC Units: November 1944 161 14. Third Army Operations: November 19-December 19, 1944 168 15. Third Army: Last Phase of Lorraine Offensive: December 3-19, 1944 176 16. The Ardennes: The Initial German Attack and Operations, December 16-25, 1944 187 17. Air Assignments for the Ardennes Counterattack December 1944 191 18. The Ardennes Operations: December 26, 1944-January 16, 1945 210 19. The German Offensive in Alsace-Lorraine January 1-30, 1945 221 20. The Ardennes Operations: January 17-February 7, 1945 231 21. Eastern France and the Low Countries, December 16, 1944- February 7, 1945, and Allied Plan for Rhineland Campaign . . . 241 22. West-Central Germany and Belgium, 1945: Rhineland Campaign Operations February 8-March 5, 1945 251 23. West-Central Germany and Belgium, 1945: Rhineland Campaign Operations March 6-10, 1945 259 24. West-Central Germany and Belgium, 1945: Rhineland Campaign Operations, March 11-21, 1945 261 25. Germany: Crossing the Rhine, Operations, March 22-28, 1945 269 26. Germany, 1944: Encirclement of the Ruhr, Operations, March 29- April 4, 1945 274 27. Germany, 1944: Reduction of Ruhr Pocket & Advance to Elbe & Mulde Rivers, Operations, April 5-18, 1945 277 28. Central Europe, 1944: End of the War, Final Operations, April 19-May 7, 1945 284 Photographs Gens. George S. Patton and Otto P. Weyland xviii Gen. Bernard L. Montgomery 9 Field Marshal Erwin Rommel 10 Brig Gen. Laurence S. Kuter 11 Gens. Lewis H. Brereton, Carl A. Spaatz, and Dwight D. Eisenhower ... 15 Gens. George C. Marshall and Henry H. "Hap" Arnold 16 British Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham with Brig. Gen. Auby C. Strickland, and Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews ... 17 Lt. Gen. Mark Clark with Patton in Sicily 21 Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley 22 Lt. Gen. Patton and Brig. Gen. Weyland 23 General Patton with troops of the 3d Infantry Division 25 Maxwell Field, Alabama 26 President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill at Casablanca 28 Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton 32 Air Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory 33 Maj. Gen. Elwood R. "Pete" Quesada 36 P^7 Thunderbolt 37 Lt. Gen. Henry H. "Hap" Arnold 44 Aerial photo of the formidable defenses at Normandy Beachhead 52 The D-Day assault 53 Armorers attach a 500-lb. bomb to a Thunderbolt 55 An F-5 with D-Day invasion markings 61 Air attack, 406th Fighter Group 63 Maj. Gen. Troy Middleton 70 Crews arming P-47s 74 An air-ground officer directs aircraft (above); a Ninth Air Force tactical air liaison officer with the Third Army (below) 75 Night armed reconnaissance missions using tracers 76 Maj. Gen. John S. Wood 77 Army engineers laying steel mesh (top), and broom-massaging the airstrips (bottom) 82 Aviation engineers preparing fields for landing aircraft (top), engineer battalion works on a bomb crater (bottom) 83 Mechanics hoist a severly damaged P^7 onto a trailer (top), technicians are checking planes (center), and a mechanic checks out a P-51 Mustang (bottom) 84 A crane is used to transfer bombs (top), airmen load crated bombs onto trucks (bottom) 85 The command post for Gen. Weyland's rear headquarters near Laval . . .93 Col. Russell A. Berg 95 German Enigma machine 105 Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery with Lt. Gens. Omar Bradley and William H. Simpson 106 Some of the 20,000 German prisoners who were surrendered to General Macon, Ninth Army, and General Weyland, XIX TAC, on September 16, 1944 107 Maj. Gen. Richard E. Nugent 114 Transportation Section, rear headquarters, Chalons, France 116 Gen. O. R Weyland in a Thunderbolt 120 Gen. O. P. Weyland awards an Air Medal to Col. Roger Browne 128 A P-61 night fighter equipped with rockets 130 Brig. Gen. Gordon R Saville 138 The lab of the 10th Photo Reconnaissance Group 142 Breaching the Etang de Lindre Dam at Dieuze, France, before ( above) and after (below) 145 Generals Patton (right), Hodges (left) and Bradley (center) 147 Gasoline for Patton's Third Army arrives 150 An F-5 from the 31st Photo Reconnaissance Squadron 152 Maj. Gen. Ralph Royce 155 Demolished command post of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division at Peltre, France 156 A cutaway of a German FW 190 157 A-20 Havoc in France 162 Air and ground coordinators near the front (top and bottom) 164 Coordinators receive messages (top), direct overhead aircraft (middle), and help spot for flak and ground fire (bottom) 165 Generals Spaatz, Patton, Doolittle, Vandenberg, and Weyland (left to right), December 1944 175 Low-level photo taken at the Siegfried Line (top), Patton's troops breach the formidable defenses (bottom) 178 Generals Patton and Patch 179 A squadron commander with his flight leaders 180 Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt with Adolf Hitler 186 Gen. Hasso von Manteuffel 188 Vehicles move past wrecked American equipment (above). Tanks from the 4th Armored Division in the Luxembourg area (below). . 193 A P-38 from the 367th Fighter Group 197 Paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division 198 Capt. Richard Parker, 405th Fighter Group (left), a P-61 forced to crash-land (below) 202 C-47 crash-landed after dropping its supplies 205 F-6s (above), an M-7 tank directs fire (below) 207 Col. James Ferguson and General Weyland 213 Gens. Weyland and Sanders, with Col. Browne and Gen. Patton 214 Damage caused by the Luftwaffe raid on January 1, 1945 216 Radar installation 218 Photo of the Saar River at very low altitude 224 Bf 109 227 Troops from the 4th Armored Division (top), 101st Airborne Infantry Division troops move through Bastogne (bottom) 228 Destroyed 88-mm gun ( top). An ambulance ( bottom) removes wounded 229 General Weyland and his staff meet with General Vandenberg and General Schlatter 230 Destroyed self-propelled gun near Dasburg, Germany 236 The Bullay Bridge collapsed into the Mosel River 243 A 354th Fighter Group P-51 Mustang 247 Ninth Air Force fighters entrenched in snow 250 Shot of Saarburg, Germany 255 Troops from the 90th Infantry Division 263 A tank destroyer from the 4th Armored Division 264 Thunderbolts hit an ammunition train (top), a truck convoy (center), and a locomotive (bottom) 266 Generals Patton (with pointer) Eisenhower, and Devers 267 Third Army crossing the Rhine River 27 1 P-5 1 from the Pioneer Mustang Group 279 Generals Patton, Spaatz, Doolittle, Vandenberg; and Weyland 280 P-47s with occupation stripes during the postwar period 292 German Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt 314 Digitized by http://www.afhso.af.mil/

Shipping list no.: 2002-0202-P

Includes bibliographical references and index

Mode of access: Internet

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews